Dawid Malan’s series-clinching century against New Zealand pushed him into pole position to open in England’s World Cup defence next month, as question marks continued to linger over Jason Roy.
Roy was once again missing due to back spasms, meaning he has been sidelined for all four games against the Black Caps, and Malan produced a gem of an innings to lay claim to his top-order spot.
He made a superb 127 from 114 balls at his old home ground of Lord’s, steering England to a score of 311 for nine that the tourists never came close to matching.
They succumbed for 211, going down by exactly 100 on the night and 3-1 overall, as Moeen Ali spun his way to figures of four for 50.
It is only a matter of days since Malan was being floated as a potential fall-guy should Harry Brook find himself parachuted into the squad for the tournament in India, but he has picked his moment expertly, following knocks of 54 and 96 with his fifth ODI ton.
Now, rather than finding himself squeezed out of the trip entirely, he seems likelier to slide into the first-choice XI.
Roy, England’s long-established opener, was left kicking his heels in the dressing room once more and may now be sweating over his place. He was one of the stars of England’s 2019 triumph but his fitness issues have emerged at the worst possible time as the final squad announcement nears.
Captain Jos Buttler, who admitted at the toss that Roy is frustrated by his struggles, suggested England could add the Surrey man to a second-string side that faces Ireland next week in a bid to get him up and running.
His absence opened the door for Malan and he played his part impeccably, scoring 14 boundaries and three sixes as he occupied the crease for 40 overs with a combination of touch and timing that eluded his team-mates. When he finally departed, reaching for a cut and nicking Rachin Ravindra, it was an ill-fitting end.
By then he had eased past 1,000 ODI runs in his 21st appearance – claiming a share of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott’s joint record. With an average of 61.52 and a strike-rate of 96.52, he has a formidable track record by any reckoning.
England rested Ben Stokes after the exertions of his record-breaking 182 on Wednesday evening but Brook was unable to make a go of his chance at number four, allowing Roy some respite.
Brook was dismissed for 10 when he hit a Ravindra drag down straight to mid-on and, with 37 from his three outings this series, has failed to amplify his case. Joe Root’s struggle for rhythm also continued, twice dropped in single figures before losing his stump for 29 aiming a slog sweep at Ravindra, who finished with four for 60.
Tim Southee paid a heavy price for his handling error in the 14th over, leaving the field for X-rays which revealed a fractured and dislocated right thumb. Like Roy, his World Cup place now hangs in the air.
Buttler was the best of the rest for England, chipping in a lively 36, before New Zealand took five for 68 in a busy final 10.
Just 48 hours earlier New Zealand had fallen short by a massive margin of 181 batting second and would have been eager to show greater resolve this time.
England, though, refused to let them into the game. Buttler took care of the dangerous Devon Conway in the fifth over, flinging off his right glove and running the opener out with an opportunistic effort behind the stumps, then held on to Will Young as David Willey found an outside.
Having failed to bring the required power to the powerplay, and with news of Southee’s fractured thumb emerging, an air of resignation appeared to take hold. Twice in a row a Buttler bowling change paid off in the first over, Brydon Carse firing one into Daryl Mitchell’s off stump with a nipping delivery approaching 90mph and Moeen darting an off-break down the slope and right through Tom Latham.
At 88 for four, and with two injured tailenders, it looked like game over. Ravindra completed a productive evening in north London by smashing 61 from number seven, but by then Moeen had already done enough.
He had Henry Nicholls lbw thanks to Buttler’s insistence on calling for DRS, then picked off Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry with successive deliveries. Ben Lister defied a hamstring strain to block the hat-trick before Sam Curran ended Ravindra’s spree with a yorker.
Windies A end Nepal tour with six wicket defeat; top five-match series 3-2
West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the series 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.
It was more of the same in the curtain call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls, were the highlight of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.
Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.
In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.
McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.
Scores: West Indies A 172-7 (20 overs); Nepal 173-4 (18.5 overs)
After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together a 96-run second wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.
Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.
Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the host remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.
Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Johnson Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin.
Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.
Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right had medium fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.
Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
IPL: Iyer and Starc boost Kolkata's top-two hopes after Mumbai win
Venkatesh Iyer starred with 70 for Kolkata Knight Riders before Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul eased his side to a 24-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The Knight Riders only managed to post 169 at Wankhede Stadium as Iyer and Manish Pandey (42) were the only Kolkata batters to pass 15 runs on Friday.
Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 3-42 and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets for just 18 runs as Kolkata limped to a target that appeared somewhat reachable for Mumbai.
Yet Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir all failed to get going in response for the Indians before Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 56 promised a tense ending.
However, Andre Russell forced Suryakumar to launch a full toss into the sky for a simple Phil Salt catch – with the West Indian one of three Kolkata bowlers to collect two wickets, along with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (both 2-22).
Suryakumer's dismissal teed up Starc's three-wicket blitz to end the innings with 4-33, moving the Knight Riders up to second in the table as Tim David's quickfire 24 proved redundant for Mumbai.
Data Debrief: Iyer the hero as Mumbai play-off hopes stunted
Having been reduced to 57-5 in the first innings, Iyer stood up with his season-best 70 off just 52 balls – including six fours and three maximums – guiding Kolkata to a commendable target.
This defeat left Mumbai ninth in the table, some six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games remaining – they may live to rue not capitalising on a promising first-innings position.
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